


The Game Begins.

by 360loverpenguin



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, College/University, F/M, Katara and Aang are mentioned, Laser Tag, The Gaang bonding, but they aren't actually in this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:07:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24942811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/360loverpenguin/pseuds/360loverpenguin
Summary: “Zuko, you have to come play laser tag with me,” Sokka said definitively, walking into the older boy’s apartment.Zuko glanced up from his laptop screen, not as surprised as he should've been at the intrusion. After all, this had become nearly a daily occurrence of one of his friends declaring his apartment theirs.“What?” Zuko asked dryly, looking up at the boy from where he sat on the couch.Sokka spun the spare key around his fingers, completely ignoring the incredulous look on the other boy’s face. “I made a bet with Suki, and I can’t lose it,” he said, walking further into the living room.Zuko shook his head, forcing his attention back onto the glowing screen. “So ask Toph,” he said, rereading the last sentence he had typed. He had to finish this essay due next week that, granted, he probably shouldn't have left so long. His eyes traced over the familiar words, correcting a spelling mistake.“Great idea, give the blind girl a gun,” Sokka quipped, sarcasm lacing his tone.Zuko shot him a deadpan look at that.“…I already asked. She's on Suki’s team,” he finished, throwing himself on the couch next to Zuko. “Please?”
Relationships: Sokka/Suki (Avatar), the gaang - Relationship
Comments: 1
Kudos: 52





	The Game Begins.

“Zuko, you have to come play laser tag with me,” Sokka said definitively, walking into the older boy’s apartment.

Zuko glanced up from his laptop screen, not as surprised as he should've been at the intrusion. After all, this had become nearly a daily occurrence of one of his friends declaring his apartment theirs.

“What?” Zuko asked dryly, looking up at the boy from where he sat on the couch.

Sokka spun the spare key around his fingers, completely ignoring the incredulous look on the other boy’s face. “I made a bet with Suki, and I can’t lose it,” he said, walking further into the living room.

Zuko shook his head, forcing his attention back onto the glowing screen. “So ask Toph,” he said, rereading the last sentence he had typed. He had to finish this essay due next week that, granted, he probably shouldn't have left so long. His eyes traced over the familiar words, correcting a spelling mistake.

“Great idea, give the blind girl a gun,” Sokka quipped, sarcasm lacing his tone.

Zuko shot him a deadpan look at that.

“…I already asked. She's on Suki’s team,” he finished, throwing himself on the couch next to Zuko. “Please?”

Zuko let out a huff of air, his bangs blowing out of his eyes as he did so. “I can’t. I have homework.” He gestured to the laptop his eyes were still trained on. He slammed the delete button, realizing he’s typed the same sentence twice in a row.

“That’s not due till next week! Come on, where’s the loyalty to our lifelong friendship?” Sokka said dramatically, nudging Zuko’s shoulder.

“I’ve known you for a year,” he said dryly, groaning as he forced himself to glimpse over the sentence again, mind barely registering what he read. He ran a hand over his face, focusing proved to be more difficult with his friend annoying him.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Essay’s not due till next week anyway,” Sokka said easily.

“Not all of us are Physics prodigies, Sokka. I’ve been at this all day,” he said, sighing as he gave up on editing that paragraph, shutting the lid of his laptop.

“Which means you need a break, and I need a partner,” Sokka said, smiling as he won the battle.

Zuko rolled his eyes, setting the device down on the coffee table before standing to grab his stuff. “ So what was the bet anyway?”

“Suki doesn't believe I’m a better shot than her.”

Zuko raised his eyebrow at that, shoving his wallet into his jeans pocket. “Sokka, she's studying to become part of the police force. Pretty sure she'll win,” he said, amused smile dancing on his face. Sometimes those two were too competitive for their own good.

“Okay, yeah, but that doesn't mean I’ll go down without a fight,” he responded, already starting to walk out the door, “C’mon, they’re waiting downstairs for us.”

——  
The two piled into Suki’s car standing in front of the building, Zuko slid in next to Toph, throwing the hoodie he brought onto the floor next to him. He smiled as he watched Sokka kiss his girlfriend on the cheek, Sokka unceremoniously slamming the front door, declaring, “You’re going down.”

Suki rolled her eyes at that, shaking her head as she pulled out of the crowded parking lot, “You actually managed to drag Zuko out of his cave?”

“Hey! I leave my apartment,” Zuko said, crossing his arms defensively.

“Pfft, yeah, when we all but drag you out screaming,” Toph commented, punching him roughly in the shoulder.

Zuko rubbed his arm, “You guys are the worst,” he said, unable to keep the smile off his face. In all honesty, Toph wasn't exactly wrong. A year ago, he was only seen outside of his apartment for classes, and even then only to return the second his lectures were over. He hadn't had many friends at this University, practically a world away from where he grew up, until Sokka, Suki, Katara, Toph, and Aang had all but stormed into his life.

As the car ride continued, Zuko allowed his thoughts to drift back to when he and his friends first met.

First, there was Sokka, the first friend he had made in over two years at the University (not that he would ever admit that to the gaang). He had quite literally run into him outside of one of the science buildings earlier that year. Zuko needed a selected course, so had stupidly chosen Physics, a class he shared with the engineering major. Sokka had made some dumb joke Zuko rolled his eyes at the memory of, even if he couldn't quite remember the quip itself. They had sat next to each other in the lecture hall, each sharing sarcastic comments about the terrible teacher they shared.

Suki had been next, Zuko having met her only a few weeks after her boyfriend. He had come to Sokka’s dorm after classes one Saturday, meeting the warrior herself there. The three had competed over video games the entire afternoon, Zuko laughing at Suki’s wit (and ability to make Sokka speechless, which was always great). The two had come fast friends then.

Zuko’s attention was pulled to the radio, as the familiar beats of the next song filtered through the air. He had been listening to that song when he met Toph. Or she shoved her way into his life, either or. It was a few days after she’d moved in next to him. He had been wearing his headphones, music blaring at full volume, so obviously he had missed the younger girl’s pounding on his door. After a few minutes of this, Toph had grown impatient, entering the unlocked apartment and practically giving Zuko a heart attack, demanding to know if he had any dish soap.

He laughed at the memory, she hadn't been the only one he’d met pounding on his door. There was Katara, who’d woken him up late one night (or around ten pm, which for a double major like Zuko was late) pounding on his door, tone furious as she swore she’d kill Toph. He had opened the door to her, tired mind still trying to process what was happening as she began to hastily apologize, Zuko laughing at the whole situation, only to be joined by an amused Toph a few minutes later. That was also the day he learned never to make Katara mad.

Then there was Aang. He was also studying Political Science, which meant that Zuko got paired up with the freshman to show him around campus, and tell him what classes to expect. He hadn't liked the younger boy at first, his excitement about everything slightly annoying Zuko, but over time he learned the boy could be pretty funny, the two getting to know each other better as Aang roomed with Sokka.

Zuko was drawn out of his thoughts by Sokka’s excited voice yelling that they’d arrived, him pointing up at the large neon sign of the arcade.

“Finally,” Toph muttered, practically throwing the door out of her way. Zuko recalled she had never been a fan of driving, he thought she might've said something about the vibrations annoying her.

“You can just walk next time,” Suki replied, chuckling slightly.

“Two miles? Yeah, right. I’d still get there faster than you'd drive though,” Toph said, trying not to give into to the smile cracking her expression.

Sokka ignored Toph’s quip, quickly grabbing Suki’s hand and running towards the arcade. Suki laughed as she followed him, the others opting to stay behind and walk.

“I hope you know I’m not taking it easy on you,” Toph said, she and Zuko falling into step beside each other.

“I hope you know I’ve never shot a gun before in my life, so please do,” he finished, glancing over at her. Alright, so maybe Sokka wasn’t the only over competitive one.

Toph snorted at that, “You do know it’s just laser tag, right? You act like we’re going to kill each other.”

“Hey, with our gaang, you never know,” he said, holding the door open for Toph as they stepped into the vibrant building, neon lights shading every part of the large room.

“You’ve really never been laser tagging before?” she asked, raising her voice slightly to be heard over the loud music wafting through the room, along with the sound effects from the hoards of arcade consoles lining the perimeter.

“Not since I was a kid.” Zuko pulled his lips into a tight smile at that, opting to scan the crowded area for their friends. They were talking to a man behind the counter, several kids holding fistfuls of tickets behind them. Huh, maybe they weren’t the target demographic of this place.

“Well I’ll have you know that Sokka and I hold annual passes, and will be absolutely whooping you butt,” Toph said, causing Zuko to bite back a laugh at her obviously monitored language. There were kids around, after all.

“…Sokka’s on my team,” he replied, pointing out her obviously flaw in logic.

“Eh,” Toph shrugged, “I’ve got the one trained in marksmanship, though,” she said, just as Suki and Sokka headed back towards them. It was true, with Suki’s major… she’d have an obvious advantage.

“Ready to win this bet once and for all?” Sokka asked, handing Zuko a bright red paper wristband, and another to Toph.

Zuko could feel the group’s collective eye roll at that, all of them heading towards a large set of doors just to their left.

They were ushered into a room to hear the rules by an employee that couldn’t have been much older than they were. He instructed them to not run, jump, climb, at which he could her Toph and Sokka snickering over something they whispered to each other that he couldn't quite hear, standing a few paces away from them.

Zuko zoned out of what the man was saying, sure he was just repeating a script he’d said a hundred times a day. His eyes wandered around the room, a stark contrast to the larger arcade they’d been in a minute ago. This room was almost entirely dark, a few black lights running across the ceiling lighting up splashes of paint thrown around the room. It was unlike anything he could recall seeing, and Zuko found himself wondering why he’d never agreed to go before.

The man then gestured to a rack of vests rigged with neon lights, and some darkly coloured guns stacked next to them. Sokka immediately grabbed two of the blue vests, tossing one to Zuko, while the girls grabbed the green ones.

“Closest in colour, harder to tell apart,” Sokka commented.

“At least Toph and I aren’t eight feet tall, I bet we can see you over the maze,” Suki returned, barely looking up from the vest she was putting on.

Zuko grabbed a gun from the holder on the wall, quickly entering his name on the dull keypad, letters worn away from years of use.

“Really? Your real name?” Sokka said, glancing over Zuko’s shoulder as he worked on his own nickname.

Zuko rolled his eyes as Sokka proudly showed off the faintly glowing digits reading, ‘Captain Boomerang’.

Toph shoved her gun into Suki’s arms, instructing herself to be named the Blind Bandit. Zuko rolled his eyes at them, lips turning up into a smile anyway.

“At least I don’t use the same nickname for everything,” he said, tilting his head towards the arena’s entrance as he started for it.

“Right, because you’re not creative enough to come up with one in the first place.” Zuko didn’t have to turn around to see the dumb grin on Sokka’s face as he said that.

“Suki, is it too late to join your team?” he laughed, stopping immediately as they entered the playing field.

Zuko took in the room, standing on the second floor of the course. It was huge, covered in the same splashes of paint from the other one, room bathed in a dull purple light. He took a breath of the stale air, eyes lighting up as he took it all in. There were towers lining every corner, music loudly blasting, causing the atmosphere to buzz with energy. He traced over the maze of tall dark walls, anticipation to explore them growing as he stood.

“Nice, huh?” Sokka said, smile glowing in the lights as the rest of his dark clothes seemed to disappear, shadowed only by the flashing blue light on the front of his vest.

A mechanic voice came over the speakers, saying they had thirty seconds before the game would begin.

Sokka immediately started running down a ramp to the left, Zuko following quickly, a taunt from Toph echoing as she ran opposite of them.

A few turns later, that Zuko was sure he couldn’t recreate, Sokka finally deemed the spot acceptable as a ‘base’. He knelt down, glancing around a shadowy corner, face lighting up with excitement, “Alright, aim for the flashing target, don’t get hit. Got it?”

By the time Zuko opened his mouth to respond, a loud buzzer sounded throughout the room, small cracked screen on his gun lighting up. The game begins.

——

Turns out, Zuko wasn’t terrible at laser tag, scoring only a few thousand points behind Sokka. He was good about not rushing into action, meaning he got shot much less than his teammate. Granted, it also meant he hit the girls way less, as his distance aim was… not the best to be spoke of.

Though he and Sokka put up a fight, they were no match for the duo that was Toph and Suki. Both taking the game deathly seriously, and landing shots that Zuko’s short history in Physics told him shouldn’t have been possible. He had no idea how Toph was so good at the game, but she seemed able to sense him halfway across the playing field, landing a near perfect hit every time, placing her final score mere hundreds behind Suki’s.

They all poured back into the larger portion of the building, Zuko rubbing his eyes at the sudden influx in light, vision blurring for a moment as his eyes switched from the dark atmosphere.

Sokka walked up behind Suki, both breathing hard and covered in sweat from the few rounds they had played. He wrapped his arm around her waist, cheek resting against her hair, “You guys cheated,” he breathed, voice betraying him as it gave way to the smile in his voice.

“You’re the one who agreed to it,” Suki replied, pressing a quick kiss to his lips as the group headed further into the arcade, weaving through rows of consoles strung with strobe lights of every colour imaginable.

“I don’t have to see you guys to know you’re disgusting,” Toph said, sarcasm highlighting her tone.

Zuko burst out laughing at the joke that probably wasn’t as funny as the face Sokka shot Toph in return, an indignant pout that made Zuko wished he hadn't left his phone back at home.

“What were the stakes of the bet anyway?” he asked, quickly adding, “Let’s get drinks.”

The tired group were all quick to agree, joining the short line at the booth selling various candies and sodas.

Sokka shrugged, “I have to make dinner on the nights Suki works for the next few weeks.”

“Hope you like food poisoning then,” Zuko said, trying to keep it under his breath. Suki’s giggles told him he failed, Toph punching Sokka in the arm at that.

They moved forward slightly, leaving only one person in front of them. “I’ll have you know I make a great Ramen,” Sokka said, looking over the menu adorning the wall behind the worker.

“That stuff doesn’t count as food, Sokka,” Zuko retorted.

“We’re college students, we don’t have time for real food,” Sokka finished, stepping up to the counter as he ordered drinks and a basket of fries for the group, placing a few bills on the counter as the employee turned to the soda machine.

Sokka wasn’t entirely wrong in that regard, Zuko would admit he ordered delivery for most meals, his cooking skills practically nonexistent. Not to mention that at least eighty percent of his free time was spent pouring over assignments until one of the group insisted he take a break. He felt bad that most of the group had to balance part time jobs on top of schoolwork, Zuko had absolutely no idea how they found time to sleep with all that piled into their schedules.

Toph helped Sokka grab the groups’ snacks, all moving to crowd into a small booth to the right of the stand. The group grabbed their respective cups, Suki tossing straws towards them.

Toph took a sip of hers, immediately making a face, “Gross, this ice tea tastes like leaf juice.”

Suki laughed into her own straw, “Isn’t that just what tea is?”

“My uncle would have your head for that,” Zuko said, glancing at Toph through the corner of his eye.

Toph chose to ignore the boy sitting to her side, reaching across the small table to grab Sokka’s root beer from his hand, much to the latter’s protest.

“Hey! You have your own drink!” he said, crossing his arms as he relented it, reaching out for some fries from the red basket they sat in.

“That’s disgusting,” Zuko said, making a face at the two.

“Okay, rich guy,” Toph returned, barely missing a beat as she slid the drink back across the table.

“Says madame Beifong,” he said, knowing full well her family’s status.

“Zuko one, Toph zero,” Suki added, trying not to choke from her laughter as she spoke.

Zuko smiled as he glanced around the table at his friends. He couldn’t believe he’s only met them a year ago, it felt as though they’d been there his whole life. It was days like this that he realized how much he loved them, annoying as they may be. He watched as Toph and Sokka bickered over something, Suki casting a pointed glance at the young kid walking by to keep Toph’s language in check. They were rough around the edges, sure, but they were his.

**Author's Note:**

> Some of my friends requested I write Zuko, and thus this fic was born. It was also my first shot at writing Toph, so I hope I lived up to the example the show sets. Hope you guys enjoyed it!!


End file.
